Clip for attaching stalks to a wire or other like elongated supported member

ABSTRACT

A clip for attaching a stalk to a wire, rope or other like elongated support member. The clip consists of a resilient wire bent to form a wall surrounding an enclosure. The wall has a mouth formed between two abutting shoulders. The ends of the wire are bent rearwardly at the aforesaid shoulders to form legs which terminate in hooks adapted to engage the support member.

United States Patent [1 1 Bruggert 1 1 CLIP FOR ATTACIIING STALKS TO AWIRE OR OTHER LIKE ELONGATED SUPPORTED MEMBER [76] Inventor: PaulBruggert, Junghaltz Thurenbach-St. 19, Haut-Rhin, France [22] Filed:Feb. 22, 1973 21 Appl. No.: 334,973

[52] 11.5. CI 24/73 HL, 47/47 [51] Int. Cl. A44b 21/00, AOlg 17/14 [58]Field of Search 24/261 PT, 73 C, 73 HH,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Derby 24/261 PT UX Miller24/73 C UX I 3,800,365 14 1 Apr. 2, 1,974

3,169,750 2/1965 Weed 256/57 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,005,8211/1952 France 47/47 319,144 3/1957 Switzerland 47/47 PrimaryExaminerDonald A. Griffin Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Maurice E. Gauthier[57] ABSTRACT A clip for attaching a stalk to a wire, rope or other likeelongated support member. The clip consists of a resilient wire bent toform a wall surrounding an enclosure. The wall has a mouth formedbetween two abutting shoulders. The ends of the wire are bent rearwardlyat the aforesaid shoulders to form legs which terminate in hooks adaptedto engage the support member. a

2 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures 1 CLIP FOR ATTACI-IING STALKS TO A WIRE OROTHER LIKE ELONGATED SUPPORTED MEMBER DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Thisinvention relates generally to fasteners, and in particular to a noveland improved clip for attaching branches, vines, shoots and the like(hereinafter collectively referred to as stalks) to a wire, rope orother like elongated support member.

The clip of the present invention is comprised of a metal wire,preferably although not necessarily of steel, which is suitably bent toform a wall defining an enclosure. The wall has a mouth formed betweentwo abut-' ting shoulders which can be resiliently spread apart topermit introduction into the enclosure of a stalk. The ends of the Wireare bent back upon themselves at the aforesaid shoulders to form legswhich terminate in hooks suitably adapted to engage the supporting wireor rope. With the hooks thus engaged, the mouth of the clip is opened bypushing a stalk between the shoulders. As the stalk enters theenclosure, the shoulders close resiliently and the stalk is thereafterheld tightly within the enclosure-against the supporting wire or rope.Preferably, the lengths of the legs are such that the hooks are alignedgenerally with the center of the enclosure, thereby insuring that theclip will be usable on a wide range of stalk diameters.

Among the primary objects of the present invention isthe provision of aclip which may be quickly and easily applied, which is capable ofresiliently holding a stalk against a support wire or rope in a mannerwhich safeguards the bark of the stalk against chaffing or peeling, andwhich is reusable time after time.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention willbecome more apparent as the description proceeds with the aid of theaccompanying drawings wherein:

H6. 1 is a view in perspective showing a clip in accordance with thepresent invention mounted on a support wire;

FIG. 2 is a generally schematic view in plan showing the mouth of theclip being spread apart by the insertion of a stalk;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 showing the stalk pushed further intothe clip enclosure; and,

FIG. 4 is a view in perspective showing the clip in its fully operativeposition holding a stalk against the support wire.

Referring now to the drawings wherein the same reference numeralsdesignate like parts throughout the several views, there is generallyindicated at a clip embodying the concepts of the present invention. Theclip is constructed from a single length of resilient wire, for examplesteel, which is bent to form a generally circular wall 12 which definesan enclosure 14. The circular wall 12 has a mouth 16 formed between twoabutting shoulders 18. The wire is bent back upon itself at shoulders 18to form a pair of rearwardly extending legs 20, the ends of whichterminate in hooks 22. The lengths of the legs 20 are preferablyselected such that the hooks 22 are aligned generally with the center ofthe enclosure 14.

The clip 10 is employed in conjunction with a support wire or rope 24 inthe following manner: the clip is mounted initially by engaging thehooks 22 with the wire 24 as shown in FIG. 1. At this point, it will beunderstood that the ends of the hooks 22 can point downwardly as shown,or alternately the hooks can point upwardly. Likewise, the clip may beconstructed slightly differently with one hook pointing downwardly andthe other pointing upwardly.

Once the clip has been mounted on the wire, as shown in FIG. 1, a stalk26 is then pushed between the shoulders 18 through the mouth 16 and intothe enclosure-14 (see FIGS. 2 and 3). This causes the shoulders 18 to beresiliently spread apart until the major diameter of the stalk haspassed through the mouth. Thereafter, as the stalk 26 enters theenclosure 14, the shoulders l8 resiliently close around the stalk,thereby pushing the stalk against the wire 24. This in effectresiliently holds the stalk 26 against the wire 24 as shown in FIG. 4.

Thus it will be seen that once the stalk 26 has been urged into theenclosure 14, it will thereafter be resiliently held between the wire 24and the inside surfaces of the wall 12 which are located adjacent to themouth 16. By virtue of the fact that the lengths of the legs 20 are suchthat the hooks 22 are in general alignment with the center of theenclosure 14, the clip has a relatively wide range of applicability tovarious stalk diameters. The stalk is tightly held against the wire 24and accordingly, its bark will not be chaffed or skinned by rubbingduring windy conditions. The clip 10 is inexpensive to manufacture, easyto apply, and reusable time and time again.

It is my intention to cover all changes and modifications of theembodiment herein chosen for purposes of disclosure which do not departfrom the spirit and scope of the invention.

1 claim:

1. For use in attaching a stalk to a support wire, rope or other likeelongated support member, a clip comprising: a resilient elongatedelement suitably shaped to form a wall surrounding an enclosure, thesaid wallhaving opposed shoulders which define a mouth communieatingwith said enclosure, the ends of said element extending rearwardly fromsaid shoulders to form legs which terminate in hooks adapted forengagement with the support member, whereupon following engagement ofsaid hooks with the support member, said shoulders may be resilientlyspread apart by inserting a stalk through said mouthinto said enclosure,the said stalk being thereafter resiliently held between the supportmember and the interior surface of said wall.

2. The clip as defined in claim 1 wherein the lengths of said legs aresuch that said hooks are aligned generally with the center of saidenclosure.

1. For use in attaching a stalk to a support wire, rope or other likeelongated support member, a clip comprising: a resilient elongatedelement suitably shaped to form a wall surrounding an enclosure, thesaid wall having opposed shoulders which define a mouth communicatingwith said enclosure, the ends of said element extending rearwardly fromsaid shoulders to form legs which terminate in hooks adapted forengagement with the support member, whereupon following engagement ofsaid hooks with the support member, said shoulders may be resilientlyspread apart by inserting a stalk through said mouth into saidenclosure, the said stalk being thereafter resiliently held between thesupport member and the interior surface of said wall.
 2. The clip asdefined in claim 1 wherein the lengths of said legs are such that saidhooks are aligned generally with the center of said enclosure.